The Jedi Ranger Chronicles: Double-Cross
by Jedi Master Sunrider
Summary: A corrupt Republic diplomat invades Naboo with an army of Trandoshan warriors and seizes the Royal Palace. The Rangers must retake the palace and free the hostages and stop the Trandoshans before aliens can turn the planet into one of their hunting grounds.


Since the reformation of the Jedi Council under Master Luke Skywalker, a group of elite Jedi was assembled to conduct missions outside the normal expanse of Jedi operations. Known as the Ranger Corps, they are few in number, never numbering more than fifty at a time. Armed with lightsabers and an array of blasters, they are sent in as search and rescue teams or used for recovery missions to retrieve lost or stolen items. Always up for the challenge, the group has, for last six years, been led by three highly decorated Jedi: Kendor Nishio, Mace Rannick and Zadok Starfire. These are some of the stories from this elite group, and while many of their deeds are kept secret, some have slipped out into public knowledge...

K'vren Maqsul stood in a large courtyard in Naboo's Royal Palace. The Twi'lek

looked out at the water as a small skip came to a stop at the dock, and the Queen stepped down on the duracrete platform. She was dressed in a simple red dress with a large headdress and white makeup with rosy blush on her cheeks. The old diplomat was reminded of when Padme Amidala had ruled the planet some fifty years before. Before the Clone Wars and the rise of Emperor Palpatine.

The Queen approached the courtyard, flanked by bodyguards dressed in traditional

attire. The grandson of Captain Panaka, Lieutenant Caster, was beside her. The

Twi'lek bowed and she returned the bow with a slight head nod.

"Greetings, Your Highness," K'vren said.

"Greetings, Senator," she replied. "How might I be of help to you today?"

The alien handed her a scroll with a wax seal keeping the document closed. She

looked at him quizzically, then broke the seal. Her eyes widened as she looked

at the contents.

Suddenly, more than fifty destroyer droids appeared and surrounded the diplomat

and Queen's party.

"Forgive me, my Lady. I am only acting on behalf of my Master."

"You will be sorry," the Queen scowled.

Inside the royal palace, a lone guard witnessed the betrayal and fled to a secure control room. There, he sent a distress signal to the New Republic's emergency response center.

His message only included the information that a Senator from Ryloth and a cadre of battle droids had captured the Queen and her security team.

On Mon Calamari, Leia Organs Solo and Luke Skywalker looked at the message from

Naboo with a team of diplomats and Jedi Masters from Yavin 4.

"Who was sent to Naboo?" Leia asked her aide, Gram Roste.

"Uh... K'vren Maqsul, I believe," Roste replied.

"That slimeball!" Leia cursed. "I didn't like him from the beginning!"

"I can have a team there in about a day," Luke said, looking at his sister.

"Do it," she replied. "I want that creep brought back to stand trial!"

"You got it," Luke said, turning and leaving the room for the command center.

Onboard the Whiplash, Jedi Ranger Magena Kaster was at the helm when Luke's

message came through.

"Master Skywalker," she said, staring at the blue holographic image before her.

"How might I help you?"

"I've got a rescue mission for your team," he replied.

"I'm listening," she said.

Thirty-four hours later, the Whiplash came out of hyperspace above Naboo and the

Jedi gasped in surprise as they saw a large number of unidentified warships floating above the planet.

Kendor Nishio sent an encrypted transmission back to Mon Cal requesting New Republic warships and soldiers as quickly as possible. Then, they turned on the cloaking device and slipped past the massive ships.

As they entered the planet's atmosphere, Zadok Starfire located the embattled palace and they found a landing spot south of the palace.

The team of eight, blasters in hand, moved as fast as they could towards the palace. They spotted a Royal Guard who was perched in a window, and they could see something was wrong. He wasn't moving or trying to signal them. Either he was under heavy guard or he was already dead.

Magena was the first to reach the palace wall. She began feeling for some sort of hidden door or lever to active a panel.

She found it at the base of the wall about two yards from her starting point to right. A hidden foot pedal opened a sliding panel big enough to crawl through. The panel led down a long corridor into the pantry.

The Rangers used small torchlights to find their way through to the pantry. When they reached the door at the other end, they heard the metallic sounds of droids working to either prepare meals or... or the Force knew what else. There was a slotted grate at the foot of the door, and Taza Redale got on her stomach to look. She used hand signals to describe the scene: four R2 units were busy making food with two battle droids standing watch.

They quickly discovered the hallway they were in was filled with secret passages to other parts of the palace. They decided the best Scouse of action was to split up into two-person teams and each go different directions.

As Kendor and a Zabrak named Park Rustae pushed deeper into one of the tunnels, they were surprised to see that it led into a set of bedrooms for hired help. They found armed guards stationed outside the doors to the six rooms.

Magena and Alteen Wutif, an Aqualish, found their tunnel spat them out near the Queen's chambers, but there were no guards to indicate that she was there.

Zadok and Mace found themselves adjacent to the main dining hall, where dignitaries and other staff were being kept, surrounded by eight battle droids.

It was the last team of two, Taza and the other Zabrak, Ilam Kolar, a distant cousin of Old Republic Jedi hero Agen Kolar, that found the Queen's location. She and her staff were being held in the bathhouse deep inside the palace. Since the palace was so large, they walked through nearly a kilometer of tunnel before coming to the bathhouse.

Ilam activated his comlinks. "We've located the Queen. She's in the bathhouse near the center of the palace. Looks like we're deep below the palace."

"Copy that," Mace's whispered voice came back. "What's the setup?"

"Six droids, one Twi'lek that looks like our boy K'vren, the Queen, her staff, and some kind of glowing sphere hovering over the pool. No idea what it is, but it's a bright-red ball."

"Okay. All teams, back out of your current positions and head for Taza and Ilam. We need to get the Queen out ASAP."

High above Naboo, a detachment of New Republic and Imperial Navy ships came out

of hyperspace and saw the enemy fleet orbiting above the planet.

General Wedge Antilles was aboard the _Memory of Ithor_, the flagship, sitting in his chair. He stroked his chin in thought as his crew worked to identify the ships below them.

Commander Sten Willack suddenly turned in his seat from the console behind Wedge.

**"General, those are **Trandoshan **battleships."**

"Trandoshan?" Wedge asked in disbelief.

"Put me through to the team on the ground, Commander," Wedge ordered.

"Aye, sir," the young commander replied.

Soon, Wedge was looking at Zadok's face on the holoprojector.

"This is General Antilles," Wedge announced.

"Sir, this is Zadok Starfire. I see you got our message."

"Indeed we did," he replied. We're sitting high above this blockade. Turns out

there are at least a dozen Trandoshan ships up here."

"Sithspit," the Jedi growled quietly.

"Don't worry, son," Wedge assured him. "We'll keep the Trandoshans off your

back."

"Thanks."

Zadok's image faded away and Wedge looked at the massive ships ahead of them.

After a moment of thought, wondering what the next course of action should be, Wedge ordered an open line established with the Trandoshan flagship. After a moment, the reptilian face of a Trandoshan warrior appeared before the crew.

"This is General Wedge Antilles of the New Galactic Republic. What are your intentions here?"

The Trandoshan spoke in his native tongue, which no one on the bridge could understand. But the answer was soon clear. After a moment, several photon torpedoes slammed into an Imperial cruiser, shattering the hull.

"Fire on those ships!" Wedge said, and suddenly, twenty Republic and Imperial ships engaged the Trandoshan vessels, turning the warships into flaming hulks. However, the flagship managed to jump into hyperspace before any of the Republic ships could fire a shot.

"Better hope those Jedi down there get this taken care of before that flagship can bring his buddies to the fight," Wedge growled.

The crews watched a few of the enemy ships fall into the atmosphere, burn up, and disintegrate, scattering hulking pieces of debris over thousands of kilometers below.

Down in the bathhouse of the palace, the Rangers began formulating their rescue plan. They would locate other points of entry around the room, and on Mace's signal, use the Force to incapacitate the droids and then take the Twi'lek by surprise.

After studying floor plans of the palace, the eight Jedi again split off into two-Ranger teams and worked their ways around the large, circular room. Once everyone was set, they shut down the droids with the Force, and the hulking machines dropped with a thunderous _CRASH_! As soon as they were sure the droids were down, the Jedi exploded into the room, lightsabers blazing and blasters at the ready. The Queen screamed, and the Twi'lek dropped to his knees at the sight of the blasters.

"Stay where you are, Twi'lek," Kendor commanded.

The alien nodded furiously. He wasn't stupid.

"You okay, Your Highness?" Alteen asked, moving to the Queen.

"Yes, Master Jedi," she replied, her voice shaking.

"What the Force is that?" Magena demanded of K'vren and pointing at the glowing sphere.

"It is not your concern, Jedi," the Twi'lek grumbled.

She grabbed him by the throat and put her face inches from his.

"What... is... it?" she seethed.

In a flash, the sphere exploded, the shockwave it generated throwing anyone not within six feet of it flying through the air. The royal guards were incinerated in a flash, and Alteen and the Queen were launched into the pool. Her heavy dress began pulling her down deeper. The Jedi grabbed her, unhooked her dress, and hauled her to the surface. She sputtered and coughed up water.

K'vren and Magena wound up in the main corridor, and the impact had knocked the Jedi out. K'vren took the opportunity to flee the room.

Zadok, Taza, Park and Ilam were tangled within each other's limbs. Mace and Kendor were sitting against the wall, dazed. Kendor was bleeding from the head, suffering from a cut created by flying droid pieces.

"He's getting away!" Mace growled.

In the hallway, Magena came too in time to see the Twi'lek flee. She pulled her

blaster out and shot K'vren in the back of the knee. He screamed in agony as he

fell.

The Jedi shook off the dizziness and pain from the blast and pushed herself up,

stumbled down the hall, and leveled her blaster.

Alteen gripped the Queen around her waist and forced her put of the water.

Then, he climbed out himself. "You okay, Your Majesty?" he asked.

"Thanks to you, Master Jedi," she replied. Her makeup was running, and she

wiped her eyes with her wet sleeve.

Alteen smiled at her. She returned it. She looked around the ruined bathhouse,

taking stock of the damage the bomb had caused.

"What kind of device was that?" she asked.

"Trandoshan microburst bomb - if I'm not mistaken," Kendor replied, walking

over to the Queen.

"It's a good short-range weapon up to about two meters but after that, there's

just the shock wave. Anything inside that range is history."

Magena was on top of K'vren in a flash, her blaster out and pointed at his head.

"What was your plan?" she demanded, her head still swimming from the blast.

Biting back the pain of his shattered knee, the Twi'lek looked at her. "Very well," he said. "I was sent here by the New Republic with orders to offer our services to the Queen, but I serve another as well."

The Jedi had gathered around and looked at one another.

"Who else do you serve?" Alteen asked.

"I serve as Trandoshan called Boroq," he replied. "He wants to take over Naboo and use it as a new hunting world for his prisoners."

It was well known that the Trandoshans liked to drop off prisoners on uninhabited worlds and hunt them for sport.

"I wonder if he knew the Naboo weren't the only ones living here," Zadok said.

"Yes ... the Gungans," K'vren said. "Boroq knew of them. They were next on his list of targets."

Mace grabbed his comlink. "General, this is Mace. Would you be so kind as to check out the location of the Gungan cities? Our little friend here says the Trandoshans were going after them too."

"Sure thing," came Wedge's voice. "You guys okay?"

"We're fine, sir. Mace out."

It didn't take long for one of Wedge's scout ships to reach the lake where Otoh Gunga lay submerged beneath the murky, treacherous surface. A quick fly-by revealed dozens of Trandoshan shuttles and hundreds of warriors. The shuttle's captain radioed back to the _Ithor_.

"General, we've spotted dozens of enemy ships and hundreds of warriors on the banks of the lake. I don't think things look good for the Gungans down below."

"Damn it!" Wedge's voice came back. "Okay, we're going to launch some attack and transport ships to deal with the Trandoshans. Their ships are already destroyed. Let's wipe the rest of 'em out."

"Right, sir. We're going to head back now."

"Okay."

After a quick scrambling of Republic soldiers and Imperial Stormtroopers aboard twenty transports, and a squadron of TIE bombers, the attack began on the Trandoshans along the lake.

The bombers hit the drop ships and raked the shoreline with cannon fire. Then the transports dropped off their troopers, who quickly cut down the remaining warriors.

An Imperial Captain, Drak, ordered a team of divers to head to the Gungan city and assess the damage.

After a few minutes of gearing up, the divers headed down into the dark depths.

The divers came to the submerged city, and saw that it was in ruins. They saw thousands of dead Gungans through the canopy bubbles that surrounded the city. Dozens of Trandoshans were patrolling the streets, shooting anything that moved. It was a slaughter.

After reporting back to their superiors, the divers were instructed to attach thermal detonators to strategically-located canopies, in order to effectively eliminate the city.

The resulting explosions caved in the massive city, effectively killing anything still alive inside. While the loss of innocent lives weighed heavily on every officer's mind, it was still necessary to do in order to stop the enemy. With that threat gone, the allied forces went looking for stragglers it other encampments around the area.

Inside the palace, the Jedi continued their interrogation of the corrupt politician.

"The Trandoshans have been eliminated," Alteen reported after a quick conversation with the Ithor.

"You're all alone now," Magena said.

"And it's time you faced a court of law and answer for your treachery," Ilam said.

The disgraced politician lowered his head, defeated. "I never expected this to happen," K'vren said. "I'm sorry."

The Queen, her makeup smeared and hair ruined, cursed under her breath, looking at someone she'd once liked. Ilam took off his duster and handed it to her. She put it on, and was instantly swimming in the jacket. The Jedi smiled at the sight. The Queen smiled back.

"Thank you," she said.

"No worries," Ilam replied.

Mace looked at his friends. "How do we take down the rest of the palace?

There must be another hundred droids left."

"Call in the heavies," Alteen suggested.

"What does that mean?" the Queen asked.

"Stormtroopers," Ilam replied.

Park radioed the Imperials who were hunting for the remnants of the Trandoshan assault group, and asked them to come to the palace. When the transports landed in the courtyard, they were met by Mace, Zadok and Taza. Magena was with the Queen and Alteen and Kendor were guarding their new prisoner.

After briefing the Stormtroopers and their commanders, the three Jedi led the way into the palace. They were greeted by heavy blaster fire as the droids in the main hallway opened fire. Waving their lightsabers, and backed by covering fire from the Imperials, they pressed forward. Suddenly a huge explosion rocked the palace, sending everyone to the ground.

Outside, a platoon of Trandoshan commandos, who had been dispatched to attack the palace if anyone showed up, launched their assault. Using huge pulse cannons, they began systematically destroying the exterior walls and parts of the palace.

The walls caved in around Magena and the Queen, and suddenly, they were falling into a basement as the floor gave way. They landed in a laundry room, falling into the dirty linens of the palace staff. But it was better than slamming into a duracrete floor.

A chunk of floor tile came crashing down next to the Queen, its jagged edge slicing into her back. She screamed in agony, and Magena threw herself on top of the Queen as more tile rained down around them.

K'vren took the opportunity to try to escape as the rear wall collapsed, but Kendor stopped him - permanently - with his lightsaber. He sliced off the Twi'lek's left leg at the knee, and the old man dropped to the floor. "Stay!" Kendor commanded the crying diplomat.

"Let's get the Force outta here," Alteen said, hefting the disabled prisoner over his shoulder.

Kendor nodded, and they went out the main door, and straight into a group of Imperial Stormtroopers working their way through the palace. Another explosion took out a portion of the hallway farther down to the right.

"Back the way you came!" Kendor shouted to the lead trooper.

The trooper nodded, and they quickly went back the other way.

Taza drew her blaster and began shooting at the droids ahead of them. Mace and Zadok did the same, and soon, everyone was firing through the smoke created by fires burning in adjacent rooms. Another explosion hurled six troopers through a window and into the courtyard two floors below. Left with only eight others in this team, they decided to retreat and escape the smoke and flames that were invading the hallway. As they pulled back, a blaster bolt hit Taza in the chest. She hit the ground hard.

"Taza!" Mace screamed. He grabbed her left hand, which had fallen above her head when she hit the ground, and dragged her the rest of the way.

When they reached a quiet hallway, the two Jedi kneeled next to their wounded friend as the troopers set up a watch position.

"I'm not gonna make it," she whispered, then coughed violently.

"Hang tight," Zadok said, stroking her hair. "We're gonna get you out of here."

"No, it's all right. Just rescue the hostages."

She closed her eyes... and was gone.

Mace hung his head, his eyes closed for a moment. Then, he ignited his lightsaber, the snap-hiss startling Zadok for a brief second. Then, he too, ignited his blade.

"For Taza," he said.

"For Taza," Mace replied.

Then, they stepped up beside the lead troopers as droids appeared at the end of the hall. The troopers looked at the glowing blades, and suddenly, the Jedi were in a full sprint, blaster bolts deflecting off the blades. They let out a vicious war cry as they charged.

Magena examined the Queen's wound, covering the gash with synth-flesh from her med kit. "You'll be okay, your Highness," she said.

"Thank you, Master Jedi," the Queen replied. "Where do you hail from?"

Magena replied, "I was discovered here on Naboo when I was four. My family were well-to-do farmers. I think my sister wanted to be a politician when she was older."

A spark of recognition flickered in the Queen's eyes. "Magena?"

Magena looked at her. For the first time, she really looked at the Queen's face. "Tasha?"

The Queen nodded. Suddenly, both women were hugging each other and crying.

Another blast above them shook them out of their reverie, and Magena's thoughts turned to survival. She grabbed her comlinks and said, "Guys! The Queen and I are trapped in a basement below her quarters! We need some help down here!"

"I'm on my way!" Ilam's voice came back.

Ilam and Park were working their way down the servant's quarters hallway, hacking droids in half and freeing the trapped prisoners. They made their way full tilt towards the Queen's bed chambers, only to find the hallway blocked by half the load-bearing wall that had collapsed in the initial assault. Outside, they heard the sounds of a raging firefight, while they dealt with smoke that was beginning to creep into the hallway.

"Sithspit!" Ilam cursed. "What should we do?"

"Blast it with a grenade," Park replied.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ilam said under his breath.

They planted two grenades in the rubble and retreated to a nearby room. When the charges blew, the floor shook and cracked under the shock wave created by the twin blasts. Then, the whole thing collapsed, opening a clear line-of-sight with where the sisters were trapped.

"You guys okay?" Ilam called to them.

"I'm fine!" Magena called back. "The Queen's been hurt, though!"

"Can she walk?" Park asked.

They saw the two women look at each other. The Queen nodded.

"She thinks so!" Magena replied.

"Okay! We're gonna lower a tow rope and you guys c'mon out!"

Park pulled a thin, metal cable from his belt and used a small blaster cap to drive one end of the cable into stud in the wall. The other end he tossed into the room below.

"You set?" Magena asked her sister.

"As I'll ever be," her sister replied.

The Queen went first, with Magena right on her heels. As she reached the top, Ilam reached out and helped her out. As she came up, Magena pulled herself out, refusing Ilam's proffered hand.

"Okay. Let's get the hell outta here and somewhere safe," Park said. "Sounds like the Trandoshans are taking a beating, so that should help us a bit. Just gotta avoid more battle droids."

At the other end of the hall, Alteen and Kendor showed up, with the traitorous Twi'lek draped over Alteen's enormous shoulder.

"You guys all right?" Kendor called to them.

Park gave him a thumbs-up, and they ran all the way to meet up with the others.

"What happened to you?" Ilam asked K'vren, looking at his severed leg.

"He tried to run," Kendor said. "I stopped him."

"Nice."

They moved out, headed for the banquet hall near the center of the palace.

Zadok and Mace slashed their way through the droids in their midst, letting their aggression drive them. In the span of a minute, forty droids lay dismembered on the ground, some sparking from fried circuits.

"Clear!" Mace shouted to the stunned Stormtroopers behind them. Two of them had Taza's body wrapped in a poncho, and they carried her to the Jedi. They found themselves standing outside the dining hall. The explosions had ceased rocking the palace, but more could be heard outside, including the sounds of swooping TIE fighters and X-Wings.

Both groups entered the dining hall at the same time. Mace and Zadok trotted over to the others, leaving the Stormtroopers to set up a defensive position at the two doors.

"Where's Taza?" Kendor asked, setting the crippled Twi'lek on a high-backed chair.

"She's gone," Zadok said quietly.

"I'm sorry," the Queen said.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my sister Tasha," Magena said after a moment of silence.

The others were stunned.

"Is this a joke?" Ilam asked.

"No joke," Tasha responded. "She really is my sister. She was taken from Naboo by Luke Skywalker when she was four."

"Well, your Highness, we need to do something about getting you somewhere safe until the attack outside is over," Mace said.

"What about my staff?" Tasha inquired, looking around the still-intact hall and vaulted ceilings.

"They're free," Park said. "They're all moving to the courtyard, if they're not their already."

She nodded.

"Time to go," Mace said.

He grabbed his comlinks and was about to bring it to his mouth to speak when the room exploded around them. They watched the Stormtroopers disappear with Taza's body in a blinding orange flash and thunderous explosion.

"What's going on?" Tasha screamed.

"I don't think that bomb that went off earlier was what we had figured it was!" Zadok shouted.

They scrambled towards the door Kendor's group had come through and ran all the way to a window overlooking the courtyard. Zadok and Kendor drew their blasters and blew out the glass.

"We're going out the _window_?" Tasha cried. "We're two floors up!"

Zadok produced a small grappling gun from his belt. He held it up and said, "Never leave the Temple without it!"

The others drew theirs and fired the grappling points into the arch of the window. They attached them to their belts and Mace grabbed the Queen.

"Hold on," he said, wrapping his arms around her. They descended rapidly down the wall, and released the cables as they touched the ground.

Once in the courtyard, an Imperial drop ship descended into the center, and the ramp came down. An officer dressed all in black came trotting down the gangplank and ushered the survivors on board.

"Let's go! We gotta move!"

They hustled up the ramp, the few surviving Stormtroopers hot on their heels. The drop ship lifted off and was joined by an escort of TIE fighters. Several X-Wings and two TIE bombers screamed past below them, racing to deliver death on the Trandoshans.

After a tense trip back to the _Ithor_, the surviving members of the Royal House, about fifty, went back to work serving Tasha once everyone had been set up with quarters. Wedge had been on hand to personally greet Tasha and the Jedi. After the introductions had been made, the Rangers returned to their ship, where they went to the medical bay to be patched up, then retired to their quarters to go into healing trances, designed to let the Force heal burns and cuts and so forth. As Mace prepared to go into his trance, he went to his chest of drawers and opened the top drawer. Inside, he saw a small blue box with his name on it. He picked up the box and opened it. Inside, lay a small rope necklace with a metal disk on it. He took it out and held it in his palm.

It had been a gift from Tenshi, Kendor's sister, Mace's old love, and now

deceased Lady of the Sith. She had given it to him on his birthday, as a small

symbol of their love.

He slipped the necklace on, stuck it under his black shirt, and laid down.

Then, he closed his eyes and let the Force heal him.

As the days rolled by, Tasha and her people returned to the devastation as

building crews from both the Republic and Empire set about clearing and

rebuilding the shattered palace. The entire entourage was moved to a secure

hotel in the city of Halaz, where Magena was allowed by Master Skywalker to act

as the Royal bodyguard to her sister. The other Rangers decided to split their

forces, and Kendor and Mace took Ilam and Park back to Yavin 4 while Alteen and

Zadok stayed on Naboo.

It took several more days for a full garrison of new Royal Guards to finish being trained and report to the Queen and her Jedi protectors. One three of the original Guardsmen had been found alive in the rubble of the guardhouse after the battle, and sent to train new members.

After almost a year, the palace was repaired and the Queen and her new guardsmen were moved back in. A permanent position was created by Luke and the New Republic leaders to place a small Jedi contingent on Naboo and, while Alteen, Zadok Magena weren't allowed to stay, they were able to brief the incoming Jedi Knights as to the layout of the palace and neighborhoods. They rejoined the rest of the Rangers after a week of orientation and training.

As the reformed team took on a new Ranger into their squad, somewhere, deep in the Unknown Regions, a small, parasitic alien race was preparing to invade the Corellia System and wreak havoc wherever they went.


End file.
